Means for forming and applying ribbon bows



Nov. 18, 1969 s. H. Dolc;

MEANS FOR FORMING AND APPLYING RIBBON BOWS Filed oct. 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 18, 969 s. H. DolG MEANS FOR FORMING AND APPLYING RIBBON BOWS 2 Sheets-Sheet z Filed Oct. 18, 1965 3,479,243 MEANS FOR FORMING AND APPLYING RIBBON BOWS Stuart H. Doig, Marengo, Ill. 60152 Filed Oct. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 496,828 Int. Cl. D04d 7/10; A41d 25/02 U.S. Cl. 161-9 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE 'of said adhesive areas at one end thereof, the endmost area attached to a surface, the ribbon hunched up on said paper strip between said areas, the other area secured to said surface and the free end of the paper strip torn off adjacent the inner of said areas to form a decorative bow.

, This invention relates generally to the art of gift wrapping and is more particularly concerned with the novel method and means for forming and applying a formal type bow to a gift package or other supporting member. Formal bows` are well known in the art and are characterized by having their loops or convolutions arranged not at random, but progressively side-by-side in orderly fashion so that all of the loops may be bisected by a single plane perpendicular to the surface supporting the bow. Such a bow is shown and described, for example, in my Patent No. 3,010,236, and in that embodiment the bow isformed from acomposite ribbon structure including a first ribbon or strip member provided with a succession of pairs of closely spaced slots or apertures along its length, and a second, narrower ribbon' or strip member threaded through the successive pairs of slots in the iirst ribbon. The two ribbons comprising the composite structure are slidable longitudinally relative to each other, and, in forming the bow, the two ends of the slotted ribbon are moved relatively toward one another on the narrower ribbon,.causing the segments of material between thepairs of slots of the wider ribbon to pile up, thereby forming the loops of the bow. The narrower ribbon of the composite structure is conveniently used in my patented embodiment to tie the package, and serves the further function of holding the loops of the bow in proper arrangement once the bow has been formed on the package.

lIt is sometimes desirable to 'attach a bow to a package independently of a ribbon or other means used 'to tie the package, and I have found that this may be accomplished with the compositev ribbon structure of my above mentioned patent, modified -by providing means for securing the narrower ribbon component thereof to the gift package at two relatively closely spaced, longitudinally separated, points. With such an arrangement, when a formal bow is formed by sliding the ends of the wider ribbon tward each other on the narrower ribbon until the bases of the loops of the bow are all disposed between such securing means, the bow may be maintained with its loops in proper arrangement and also secured to a supporting member by fastening the narrow ribbon by such securing means to the supporting member.

It is an object of the present invention to provide convenient, simple, and economical means for forming a formal bow and attaching it to a package or other supporting member.

A further object is to provide a novel method of form- United States Patent O 3,479,243 Patented Nov. 18, 1969 ice ing and securing a formal bow to a package or other supporting member.

A further object of the invention is to provide a composite ribbon structure including a relatively narrow strip or ribbon threaded through successive pairs of slots in a wider ribbon, the narrow ribbon being provided with means for securing it at two longitudinally spaced points to a package or other supporting member, whereby the bases of the loops of a formal -bow formed `by sliding the ends of the wider ribbon toward each other on the narrow ribbon may be retained in proper relation between the secured points of the narrow ribbon, the bow at the same time being secured to the package.

A further object is to provide a composite ribbon structure of the type referred to in the foregoing object, wherein the narrow ribbon is provided with adhesive means enabling it to be secured to a package or other supporting member at two points spaced longitudinally by a predetermined distance.

A further object is to provide a ribbon structure of the type referred to in the foregoing objects, wherein the narrower ribbon is provided with a pair of longitudinally spaced adhesive areas, the distance between the adhesive areas being related to the size of the formal bow to be formed from the wider ribbon, such that when the bases of the loops of the -bow are restrained between the adhesive areas attached to a package, the loops are in the desired arrangement for a formal bow.

A further object is to provide a composite ribbon structure including a relatively narrow ribbon threaded through successive pairs of slots in a wider ribbon, whereby the wider ribbon may be bunched on the narrow ribbon to form loops of a formal bow, the narrow ribbon being provided along its length with pairs of fastening means, such as adhesive areas, for securing the narrow ribbon and bow to a package or other supporting member, a plurality of the pairs of slots in the wider ribbon occurring between successive pairs of such fastening means on the narrow ribbon, so that a composite ribbon structure is formed containing material for a plurality of bows.

Other objects and advantages will in part appear and in part be obvious from the following description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a composite ribbon structure embodying a preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view, on a reduced scale, of an extended length of the composite ribbon structureshown in FIGS. 1 and 2, illustrating repetitivesegments thereof for use in preparing a plurality of formal bows, and adapted to be wound on a spool;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the ribbon components of the composite ribbon structure of FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, showing another embodiment of the slotted ribbon component of the composite ribbon structure of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale, showing a specific form of shield member used in the composite ribbon of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view similar to FIG. 2, but on an enlarged scale and showing a fragment of a formal bow partly formed at the ends of the slotted ribbon are urged relatively toward each other on the other component of the composite ribbon structure;

FIG. 8 is a perspective View of a segment of a novel composite ribbon structure of the type shown in FIGS. 1 4, partly formed into a formal type bow on a supporting member, such as a gift box;

vpleted formal bow; and

FIG. is a vertical sectional view of a completed formal bow in accordance with the invention, taken along the line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1-7 thereof, it is seen that the invention comprises a composite ribbon structure designated generally as 10, and includes a first strip member or ribbon 11 and a second strip member or ribbon 12, the latter being narrower than the ribbon 11. The ribbon 11 is provided with a plurality of apertures or slots 13 arranged in pairs, the apertures of each pair being separated from each other defining straps or bridges 14 between them. The pairs of apertures 13 are distributed longitudinally of the ribbon 11, and the distance between the successive pairs of apertures is determined by the size of the loops of the formal bow to be made from the ribbon 11, as will appear more fully hereinafter. The narrow ribbon 12 is substantially coextensive lengthwise with the ribbon 11 and is threaded through the successive pairs of apertures 13, the ribbons 11 and 12 thereby being juxtaposed over substantially their entire lengths.

A satisfactory composite ribbon structure for the purposes of this invention is shown and described in my above mentioned patent No. 3,010,236, in which embodiment the apertures in the wide ribbon are triangular, as are the apertures 13 hereof, and the narrow ribbon is of a width such that it will bind slightly in the lateral corners of the apertures. Although I perfer to use triangular apertures 13 in the wide ribbon of my composite structure, the apertures need not be triangular, but may be of any other suitable shape, or may be omitted altogether and staples substituted therefor. If for reasons of economy or other purposes staples become desirable, a plurality of staples is inserted in the wide ribbon 11 where apertures 13 are shown in the drawings. The narrow ribbon 12 is then threaded through the staples in the same manner as it is threaded through the apertures 13, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. In the modification shown in FIG. 5, the corresponding apertures 13 in the ribbon 11 are rectangular in shape and are separated by a strap or bridge 14 corresponding to the strap 14 in the embodiment previously described. Also, it is not necessary, for the purposes of the present invention, that the narrow be wide enough to bind against the sides or lateral corners of the apertures in the wider ribbon or the sides of the staples, and in fact the ribbon 12 is preferably narrower than the width of the apertures 13 through which it is threaded, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and thus it passes loosely and without binding through such apertures.

In accordance with the principal feature feature of the invention the ribbon 12 of the composite ribbon structure is provided with means for securing such ribbon to the package or supporting member to be decorated, whereby the bow formed by the ribbon 11 on the ribbon 12 is also secured to the package and maintained in proper arrangement. Preferred means for this purpose are shown in FIGS. 1-3 and comprise spaced adhesive areas 16, 16 on the ribbon 12 by which the latter may be tightly secured to a package or other supporting member. Preferably, the material forming the adhesive areas 16, 16' is a pressure-sensitive adhesive and, accordingly, shields 17, 17 are initially provided to cover the adhesive areas to facilitate handling of the composite ribbon structurer 10 and prevent accidental or premature adherence of the ribbon 1'2 to other objects. The type of pressure-sensitive adhesive used for the adhesive areas 16, 16 is of course not critical, a satisfactory adhesive being that used on conventional pressure-sensitive adhesive cellophane tape such as Scotch brand tape. Those skilled in the art will be aware of many other commercially available pressuresensitive adhesives which may be used as well.

The shields 17, 17' may be fabricated from any suitable solid, substantially continuous sheet material which will adhere initially to the adhesive areas but which may be separated therefrom substantially without removing the adhesive from the ribbon 12. A number of commercial plastic materials in film form, such as cellulose acetate, saran and vinyl resins such as polyvinyl chloride are useful for this purpose. When smooth preformed films of these materials are applied to the pressure-sensitive adhesive areas, they initially adhere to the adhesive areas but may be readily lifted cleanly from the adhesive surface when desired, thus exposing the underlying adhesive and rendering the latter available for fixing the ribbon 12 to the package. In a preferred embodiment of my invention, the shields 17, 17 are fabricated from a smooth-surfaced paper sheet, one surface of which is provided with a coating or film of a parting material enabling the shield to be easily separated from the adhesive areas 16, 16. A satisfactory shield may be made, for example, from manila paper of about .005 inch in thickness, having on one of its surfaces a substantially continuous layer or coating of a suitable parting agent such as a silicone resin or other suitable resin or plastic parting material well known in the art. Such a composite shield member is indicated as 17a in FIG. 6, and comprises a base member 18 of paper sheet material and a dry coating 19 of the parting material.

The extent of the adhesive areas 16, 16' is also not critical and need only be large enough to assure adhesive bonding of the ribbon strip 12 to the package or other supporting member. For a composite ribbon structure in which the ribbon 12 is about UAG inch in width, elliptical adhesive areas 16, 16 having a major diameter of one inch and a minor diameter of one-half inch have been found satisfactory, the shield 17, 17 being of the same dimensions, or slightly larger, than the adhesive areas with which they are associated. With the ribbon 12 about 11/16 inch in width, a width of about V716 inch for the ribbon 11 is satisfactory, with the apertures 13 being about 3%; inch wide measured transversely of the ribbon; i.e., along an edge of the associated strap 14. The apertures 13 of each pair are preferably adjacent one another, as shown, and in a ribbon 12 having the dimensions just mentioned, the distance between such adjacent apertures, i.e., the width of the straps `14, is suitably between and A6 inch. The distance between adjacent straps 14 is suitably about 4 inohes, to produce loops of a formal bow of a size satisfactory for most gift packages.

The material used in forming the adhesive areas need not be a pressure-sensitive adhesive, but may if desired be a solventor water-sensitive adhesive which becomes tacky upon the application thereto of water or other suitable solvent, such as the adhesive used on postage or trading stamps, or the animal glue commonly used on paper binding tape, or it may be a common heat-sensitive adhesive which becomes tacky upon the application of heat. With such adhesives, application of a solution thereof to the ribbon 12, followed by drying or curing, results in a non-tacky dry deposit of the adhesive on the ribbon, making it unnecessary to cover the adhesive areas with a shield. Shields 17, 17 may therefore be omitted when the adhesive areas 16, 16 are dry, solventor heat-sensitive adhesives. Application of water to the surface of the dry water-sensitive adhesive coating (or of heat to the heat-sensitive adhesive) renders it tacky and operative to perform its function of holding the strip 12 to a package to be decorated.

Preferably, the composite ribbon of the invention is fabricated in lengths containing sufficient material for a number of bows, and such lengths are then wound on a spool in the usual manner for convenience in storage and dispensing. A segment of such a composite ribbon is shown in FIG. 3, where it will be seen that the narrow ribbon 12 is provided along its length with pairs of adhesive fastening areas 16, 16', and the wider ribbon 11 is provided with a succession of pairs of apertures 13 such that when the two ribbon components are juxtaposed a plurality of pairs of apertures '13 are disposed between successive pairs of adhesive areas 16, 16. I prefer so to assemble the ,ribbons .11 and 12 in forming the composite structure that one pair of apertures 13 is disposed between 'a pair of adhesive areas 16, 16', and a number of additional pairs of apertures 13 are present between the said pair of adhesive areas and the next succeeding pair thereof, and I also preferably provide an index such as a diamond mark 20 adjacent each pair of adhesive areas and to oneY side thereof, the indicia'20 being respectively to the same side relative to all such pairs of adhesive areas. Such indicia 20 indicate points at which the composite ribbon structure may be cut successively, as desired, to provide segments of the composite structure suitable for forming and attaching bows having a predetermined number of loops.

The number of pairsof apertures13 occurring between such `pairs of apertures the more` loops will bejformed in the formal bow since, when'the ribbon 11 is piled up on the ribbon 12 in forming a bow, each portion of the ribbon 11 between two adjacent straps 14-formsv one loop of the bow. For a composite ,ribbon structure having the above mentioned specific dimensions, seven pairs of apertures 13 are suitably provided between successive pairs of adhesive areas 16, 16, and the adhesive areas of each pair are about two inches apart.

The adhesive for the areas 16, 16', and the shields 17, 17' therefor, may of course be applied manually. However, preferably the adhesive is applied to the areas 16, 16 by a conventional ribbon printing machine and, when the adhesive is pressure sensitive, the shields 17, 17' are applied to the adhesive areas by machines adapted for such purpose, and which are available in the commercial market.

When the adhesive is a conventional water sensitive or heat sensitive adhesive which, after application to the ribbon 12 and drying, assumes a dry, nontacky condition on the ribbon, no shields 17, 17' are necessary, and the ribbon 12 is simply passed through a drier to dry the applied adhesive before the ribbon is wound or associated with the ribbon 11 to form the composite ribbon structure.

The ribbon 11 preferably is a typical decorative woven ribbon, but if desired, may be made of other material in strip form, which may be nonwoven, such as crepe paper or aluminum tape. When the ribbon is nonwoven, the apertures 13 are made by a simple conventional perforation procedure. When the ribbon 11 is of woven material, the apertures 13 may also be formed by perforation if desired, but preferably are formed on the loom during the weaving operation, by any of the well known weaving techniques.

The ribbon 12 may be fabricated of any material of sufiicient strength to withstand the small tensile strain temporarily set up therein while the ribbon 11 is slid along it to pile up the loops forming the bow. Therefore, the ribbon 12 may itself be a conventional woven decorative ribbon strip, which may be of the same material as, or different than, ribbon 11, or it may be any suitable woven or non-woven tape. I prefer to use a thin paper strip as the ribbon 12, a bleached kraft paper of about pounds basis weight being satisfactory.

In forming a bow, a segment of the composite ribbon 10 in accordance with the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 is selected having a pair of adhesive areas 16, 16 at one end. If the composite ribbon 10 is initially on a spool, it is unwound until the first pair of adhesive areas appear, and the unwound segment of the composite ribbon is cut off with a scissors so that the adhesive areas are retained in the excised segment. The printed indices 20 are convenient guides indicating the points at which the composite ribbon 10 should be cut. The excised segment contains in its portion of ribbon 11 a sufficient num-ber of the pairs of apertures 13 to form the desired number of loops in the bow. The shield 17' is then removed, exposing the pressure-sensitive adhesive area 16", and the area 16 is then pressed against the package 21, thus securing the ribbon 12 at such adhesive area to the package (FIG. 8). Then, while holding the free end of the ribbon 12 taut, the ribbon 11 is slid on the ribbon 12 in the direction of the secured or fixed end of the later to pile up loops in the ribbon 11. This mechanism of loop formation is illustrated in vertical sectional view in FIG. 7, and in perspective in FIG. 8, these figures illustrating loops of the bow in an intermediate stage of formation. When all of the straps 14 at the bases 22 of the loops 23 are accumulated between adhesive area 16 at the fixed end of ribbon 12 and the adhesive area 16, the shield 17 is removed from the adhesive area 16 exposing the latter, and the adhesive area 16 is then pressed against the package 21, thus securing the ribbon 12 to the package at a second point with the bases 22 of the loops of the completed bow 24 between the two points of adhesive attachment of the ribbon 12 to the package (FIGS. 9 and 10). The Ifree end of the ribbon 12 is then cut or torn olf near the adhesive area 16, and discarded.

It will be evident that when the adhesive areas 1,6, 16 are formed from a heat-sensitive adhesive or a solventsensitive adhesive the steps of the method of forming the bow are substantially the same as those just described, except that heat or a proper solvent such as water is applied to the adhesive, as required by its character, in conditioning the adhesive to secure the ribbon 12 to the package.

It will also be apparent that, in the practice of the present method of forming a formal bow, a composite ribbon structure including ribbon strips 11 and 12 may be used in which the ribbon 12 is not provided initially with adhesive area 16, 16. In such case, after assembling a composite ribbon structure including interwoven segments of suitable lengths of the ribbons 11 and 12, a suitable adhesive may be applied to a spot or area adjacent one end of the ribbon 12, the latter then attached thereby to the package, the ribbon 11 then slid toward such attached end of the ribbon 12 to form the loops of the bow with the bases of the loops grouped near the attached end of the ribbon 12, a second spot of the adhesive then applied to the ribbon 12 adjacent the other end of such grouped bases, and the ribbon 12 then fastened by such second spot of adhesive to the package. Alternatively, other mechanical means, such as staples, may be used as the fastening means instead of the adhesive in the procedure just described, if the package or other substrate t0 which the bow is attached will permit the use of staples.

Also, although in the preferred embodiments shown in the drawing and described above the adhesive is applied only to relatively small areas of the ribbon 12, it will be apparent that in cases where the adhesive in its final state on the ribbon 12 is dry and non-tacky, it may be applied over one entire surface of the ribbon 12 and rendered tacky by heat or solvent such as water, whichever is appropriate for the type of adhesive used, only at the selected small spots or areas adjacent the ends of the completed bow, when the bow is attached to the package. While such an embodiment would be operative it is wasteful of adhesive and is not preferred.

From the above 4description it will be apparent that all of the objects and advantages recited previously for the invention have been demonstrated as obtainable in a convenient, simple and practical manner. Furthermore, it will be understood that the embodiments specifically shown and described herein are to be considered only as illustrative of the invention and that many further variations therein will suggest themselves and are intended to be included within the broad teachings of the invention, and

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A ribbon structure comprising a length of ornamental ribbon, means dening a plurality of spaced transverse loops associated with said ribbon, a carrier strip slidably contained in said loops approximately equal in length to said ribbon, and a pair of narrowly spaced, pressure- Sensitive, adhesive areas on said carrier strip adjacent one end of said strip whereby the outermost of said areas may be applied to a surface, said ribbon bunched upon said strip against said adhered outermost area to clear the inner area, said inner area applied to said surface, and the portion of said strip beyond said areas detached and discarded.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said carrier strip is of a material which can be easily manually torn transversely.

3. A bow-forming ribbon structure comprising a length of ornamental ribbon, means deiining a plurality of spaced transverse loops associated with said ribbon, a carrier strip slidably contained in said loops, said strip having pairs of narrowly spaced, pressure-sensitive, adhesive areas on that side thereof away -from said ribbon spaced at a distance on said strip to incorporate several of said loops between said pairs said combined ribbon and strip being severable adjacent but outside said areas to include a pair of said areas and the combined ribbon .8 and strip between pairs of said ture of claim 12.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein the spacing between the areas of said pairs is no greater than about the spacing of adjacent loops on said ribbon.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 3 including indicia adjacent the same remote end of each of said pairs to determine the line of severance for each bow.

6. In combination with a surface, a decorative bow comprising a short backing stripvadhesively secured atY each end to said Surfaceand a decorative ribbon having a length at least a few times longer than said strip, said ribbon having means thereon dening transverse loops at spaced intervals over the length thereof, said loops being engaged around said strip and confined between the adhesively secured ends thereof.

areas to define the struc- References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS' p 222252230 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent N0. 3:479 243 Dated November 1 8, 1969 Inventor(S) Stuart H. Doig It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent: and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Col. 3, line 45, "ribbon" has been omitted after "narrow" Col. 3, line 52, delete one "feature" Col. 4, line 36, "1.7/16 inch" Should read "l-7/l6" Col. 8, line 2, "claim 12" should read "claim 1".

SIGNED AND SEALED JUN 9 1970 EA-L) Attest:

Edward M. Fl tch It.

e. er muur? SGHM m- Attestlng Offlcer comisslone'r of Patin 

